"Twins?"
"Yep! As I mentioned before, you're eleven weeks along. The ultrasound only confirmed that you're pregnant with twins. I'm surprised you're only getting the morning sickness now though. It tends to be severe for women carrying multiples," Dr Clive Martens, my new gynaecologist in San Francisco, informed.
Grace and I sat, watching him with the same amount of confusion and disbelief, while Phyllis was unfazed. I'd come with the two of them to confirm whether or not I was pregnant, and as soon as that was confirmed, I asked for an ultrasound.
"Are you able to give us a due date?" Phyllis asked him.
"It's still too early, especially since she's carrying twins. We'll check again in a couple of weeks. Rose, are you ok?" he asked me.
"Twins," I whispered, still stunned.
"I'm going to be a big sister to two more babies," Grace added her own whisper.
"I'm sorry they're like this," Phyllis apologized on our behalf.
"Oh no, it's ok. I deal with this all the time. The shock will eventually fade. In the meantime, how about I go and collect all the information you're going to need?" Dr Martens offered.
"Please and thank you," Phyllis replied. He left the room shortly after.
"Rose honey, are you ok?" Phyllis asked softly.
I turned to her, tears in my eyes as I could feel the panic attack coming on. "No."
"Ok, first thing you're going to do is calm down ok? Just breathe in and out," she said.
"I thought this part comes at the end of pregnancy," Grace joked.
I managed to laugh a little at that and get my breathing under control. "You're taking this better than I am."
"I'm not the one who's pregnant, and besides, I'm getting more siblings. There's nothing better than that in my books," Grace argued.
"Where do I start telling Olivier?" I asked.
Both Grace and Phyllis' eyes widened and they suddenly looked super excited. "What is wrong with the two of you?"
"It's his birthday today!"
I froze at those words, simply because I'd forgotten. I'd spent so much time being mad at him that the days leading up to this day just seemed to fade away. Hell, I didn't even have anything special planned for the day.
"With this whole Valerie thing, I completely forgot, and I don't even have a gift for him," I panicked.
"Except you do," Grace hinted.
I frowned. "I do?"
"Geez Rose, you can be slow sometimes. Your pregnancy! News about your pregnancy is your gift to him," Phyllis elaborated.
"That can't be my gift to him. What if he's not happy about the pregnancy? What if he was fine with having just two kids? Oh my God! What if he leaves me? What if my pregnancy has ruined everything? There's no way I'm getting an abortion, but I'm not ready to lose him either and I'm not ready to raise two kids by myself," I panicked.
"Breathe," the two of them said and I inhaled heavily before exhaling.
"The next eight to nine months are clearly going to be a blast with you," Phyllis teased, making me laugh as I wiped away my tears.
"Dad isn't going to leave you because of this. This is going to make your relationship stronger and you have to believe that," Grace told me.
"Grace is right. I've seen the way he looks at you Rose. I've never seen that look on his face before. You already know that he's in love with you, so why would this make him run? If anything, I'm pretty sure it seals the deal for you guys," Phyllis added.
"Isn't it too early? Isn't everything happening too quickly?" I argued.
"Maybe it is, but who's to say really? I feel like the only people who should get to decide whether things are moving quickly or not, are you and Olivier. However, I'd like to think you're screwed now anyway. You can't exactly rewind or slow down your pregnancy. This is happening whether or not you're ready," she countered before Dr Martens returned.
"Right! I see we're a lot calmer now. This is the information you're going to need to pay close attention to now that you're carrying twins. Based on your medical records, I see that this is also your first ever pregnancy, so we're going to be keeping an extra close eye on you to make sure that everything goes smoothly. I have to ask, is the father in the picture?" he asked.
"He is, but he obviously doesn't know that I'm pregnant. If all goes well, I should be back with him for my next appointment," I replied.
"Excellent. I'm pretty sure he'll have a lot of questions to ask, so I'll have to prepare myself. Now, these are the basic dos and don'ts, and then this is a list of some prenatal vitamins and medication that I'd like you to keep stocked up. If you need me at any point in time, you can call me here at the office, or you can call my cell phone number if it's really urgent. Do you have any questions?" he asked.
"I think I just need time to first process the fact that I'm pregnant. Can I perhaps email you as well once I've come to terms with everything?" I questioned.
He beamed. "By all means! My email address is there as well. You're going to be fine Rose. We're going to all get through this together."
I would hope so.
We left shortly after that and Phyllis and Grace took me to school, even though they were against it. I'd already missed my first two lessons of the day, leaving me with only four lessons left before my lessons with Grace.
But I had to first stop by Gail's office.
"Rose? Are you alright? You said you were heading to the doctor," she asked in concern after I'd closed the door.
I went to the chair before her and sat down. "I, I don't know how to tell you this."
"Just come out with it Rose," she said plainly.
"I'm pregnant," I said.
Her eyes widened, before she frowned. "Tell me the father of the baby isn't my brother."
"It is. We are in a relationship. I don't know if he's told you about it or if you've seen our pictures in the media or not, but we are," I responded, not bothering to correct the number of babies we're having.
"You know, I told you to only humour him. Why would you take it further than that?" she asked.
"If you had let me say what I wanted that day, then you would've known that my agreeing to that dinner was my downfall. I'd already met him and from the moment I did, there was something there, something that I knew would be sparked from me spending time alone with him," I defended.
"Are you saying that this is my fault?" she asked, perplexed.
"No. I know your brother so I know that I would've had dinner with him either way. I'm simply pointing out that on that day, you didn't give me a chance to say anything. You simply pushed me into the decision," I explained.
She sighed. "You know Rose, I like you. I know the students like you as well, but getting into a relationship with my brother, let alone carrying his kid, isn't going to go down well with the parents. You know of their influence, as well as their feelings towards my brother, and I can just tell that this isn't going to end well for you."
My heart dipped.
"What are you saying?" I asked lowly.
"I'm saying that perhaps you should start looking for another job before they force my hand and make me get rid of you. I'm sorry," she said, but she didn't sound remorseful at all.
"I resign then," I decided there and then.
"You don't have to make the decision now," she argued.
I stood up, my emotions all over the place. "Except I do. I can see the look on your face, so I'll just save you the trouble and resign."
I stormed out of her office before she could say anything. I bumped into someone on my way out, but I was too upset to stop and check who it was. I just knew that I needed to get out of there because my panic attack was starting again.
"Rose!" someone stopped me.
"Huh?" I said, stopping to wipe away my tears.
"What's wrong? You just bumped into me and you didn't even notice," Kennedy asked me. I hadn't spoken to him in a while.
"Sorry. I need to go," I said before turning to walk away.
He followed after me. "You shouldn't be driving in this state."
"I didn't drive here. I'm going to call someone to fetch me," I replied.
"I wish I could help. Can I call you tonight to find out if you're ok?" he asked.
"Oh no, that's ok. It's nothing you need to worry about," I said quickly.
He smiled. "I'm only going to worry more if I don't call you."
"It's really fine Ken. Besides, I don't think my boyfriend will appreciate it," I pointed out.
I needed to shut this down now.
His eyes widened. "You have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah. You might know him- Olivier Black," I informed.
If his eyes got any wider, they'd roll out of his head. "Olivier Black?"
"Yep! I really need to leave right now. Good luck with your classes and what not," I told him as the bell went.
I didn't stick around long enough to hear anything he had to say after that. I got outside and the sun was blazing as I took out my phone. I was hoping and praying that the person I was calling would pick up the phone.
"Squirt? What's wrong? Are you ok?" he asked, picking up.
"I need you," I said lowly.
"I'll be right there. Send me your location," he said before I met the dialling tone.
He arrived within twenty minutes. I'd spent the time waiting outside with some of my now former students who had a free period. I didn't even have it in my heart to tell them that I wouldn't be coming back. Besides, I didn't even know how Gail was going to handle the whole thing.
"What's going on Rose? It's very rare that you call me for help," he pointed out as we drove out of the school yard.
"Let's see- Cammy's still not talking to me, and I don't even know if she knows about Olivier and I. We're a thing now and God, my life is spiralling. We went on our first vacation together, except it ended up in my meeting the little boy who is now pretty much my son. Grace has adopted me as her mom too. My relationship with Olivier is great, but I find myself afraid that whatever he's not telling me has the potential to break us. There's also this woman Valerie in the picture, and the woman just rubs me up the wrong way. My mom has gone off the band wagon again, and this time I genuinely can't bring myself to care. I just lost my job and I'm so damn hungry. Also, did I mention that I just found out that I'm pregnant with twins?"
He went onto the emergency lane and stopped the car before looking at me with shock. "What the hell Rose?"
"I know," I whined.
"When did you go back home?" he asked.
"About two weeks back," I replied.
He frowned. "And you didn't bump into Holly or my brother?"
"No, we thankfully didn't. I wouldn't have been able to deal with them on top of everything I dealt with there," I said.
"I'm sorry about your mom, but this isn't ok. I don't know what the hell is up with you and Cammy, but you need to fix it. I'm not ok with being out of the loop for so long. Everything you just told me sounds insane, and I'm not really making any sense of it because like I said, it sounds insane," he pointed out.
"Your wife is the one who won't talk to me simply because she believes I'm being stupid for loving the man that I do. Well, at the time I wasn't in love with him, but she basically told me to stay away from him," I replied.
"I've heard all about him, and I know Cammy is stubborn. Personally, I don't care for his past or the rumours. I just care about how he's treating my best friend," he said.
"I'm happy for the most part. There are some stuff we're working on, but I'm happy. His kids have adopted me as their mom," I responded.
He scowled. "And now you're pregnant with his twins?"
I nodded. "It's crazy right?"
"It's insane. Just how much could've possibly happened in three months?" he asked.
"A lot. I don't even live at my apartment anymore," I informed.
"Yep! It's official. I don't know where Rose Kidman is anymore," he chuckled.
I smacked him. "I'm right here and I'm freaking out John."
"What exactly has you so freaked out?" he asked.
"My pregnancy mostly," I replied.
"Are you afraid he's not going to want the kids, or that the pregnancy is going to change things?" he questioned.
"Definitely both," I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "Has he told you he loves you?"
I nodded. "We've both said it. We're pretty set right now."
"And has he given you any kind of sign or vibe that would suggest that telling him you're pregnant will chase him away or change the dynamic of your relationship?" he asked.
"I want to say no, but Olivier can be complicated, and his past may also affect this. I guess I just don't want him to feel like I'm trapping him in some way through this pregnancy," I explained.
"Rose, you don't look like a woman who was expecting to find out that she's pregnant, which I think then vouches for you. You didn't plan this, and you need to have a little more faith in your boyfriend," he scolded.
"I mean, I guess. I'm just so terrified to lose him," I admitted.
He gave me a small smile. "This is it huh? You've found the one?"
I blushed. "Yes, I have. Everything I feel is what most people describe when they describe love and finding their soul mate."
"Then you need to know that things will work out in the end. Have faith Rose. You're the one person who's always said that to everyone else. It's time to believe your own words," he encouraged.
I smiled, before a thought crossed my mind. "How's Cammy? Is she fitting in alright?"
"She's stressed out most of the time. Relocating her business hasn't gone off to a great start, and I can tell she misses you. It's probably why she can't focus so much," he replied.
It didn't sit well with me that Camila wasn't ok. She may not agree with my decision to be with Olivier, but at the end of the day, she's still someone I care greatly about and would go to the ends of the world for.
"Can you do me a favour?"
We drove to the flower store as I requested and I bought her favourite flowers, before writing a long letter to go with them. I'd officially made my move, and it would be up to her to make hers if she wants to.
"Thanks for bringing me home," I told John as we stood outside the mansion gate.
"This is your new home? This place is insane Rose," he said in awe.
"A lot of things are insane to you," I teased.
"You know what I mean. I can't believe you live here now," he commented.
"I guess life has been good to me. Listen, its Olivier's birthday today, and I think we might have a little dinner or whatever. Would you like to come?" I invited.
"I would love to, but I don't know if Cammy will come," he said regretfully.
"Will you still come if she refuses?" I asked.
He nodded. "She'll be pissed, but I need to meet this guy and make sure he's the one for you."
"Even if you disagree, it's too late," I joked.
"It's never too late to be intimidating to your potential husband," he chuckled.
I laughed before hugging him. He left soon after and the security at the gate let me in. I regretted not asking John to drop me off inside as I made my way up the long driveway. By the time I made it inside the house, I was panting like the unfit, pregnant woman I am.
"Did you just walk?" Fabio asked me when he found me hunched over in the lobby.
"Just up the driveway," I replied.
"You are so unfit," he chuckled.
"I'm also pregnant so shut up," I shot back.
"WHAT?"
My head whipped to the other voice that shouted that question. "Richard?"
"Here I was, planning to surprise you by coming over to celebrate Olivier's birthday, and this is what I find out?" he said.
"To be fair, I just found out like two hours ago," I defended.
"You're pregnant?" Fabio said incredulously.
I nodded. "With twins."
They both looked like they were about to pass out from disbelief.
"Why do they look so traumatized?" Phyllis asked as she walked into the lobby.
"I just dropped the pregnancy bomb on them," I informed.
"Ah, ok. How did you get here? In fact, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be teaching for the next two hours," she questioned.
"I know, but things took a bit of a turn. John dropped me off," I replied.
"How bit is bit of a turn?" my brother asked knowingly.
I sighed. "I quit my job."
"You what? Why?" they asked simultaneously.
"It was either that, or I was going to be fired at a later stage anyway. Apparently my relationship with Oliver doesn't sit well with some of the parents, and eventually, they would've forced Gail to fire me," I explained.
"That's bullshit! You can actually fight them on that," Fabio pointed out.
"I could, but do I really look like someone who wants to? I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I just accepted two kids as my own, only to find out that I have two kids of my own on the way. I'm terrified of what that means for Olivier and I, despite what anyone says. I just, I can't be taking on anything else right now," I argued.
"Or at least not until you know where you stand with Olivier," Phyllis commented, to which I nodded.
"Well, for now you can just stick to planning his birthday dinner with us and then you'll tell him later," my brother suggested.
"I can do that, but why does it sound like this dinner is going to be something big?" I asked.
"Not big, but definitely bigger than we suspected," Fabio said.
"Well, he's turning thirty, so it makes sense to sort of make a big deal out of it. We're inviting everyone we know doesn't judge him based on the rumours and what not, and basically everyone he's on talking terms with," Phyllis added.
"And who might that be exactly?" I questioned.
"Us, his best friend, Mr Russo, some business associates of his, and Miss Black is flying in too. I'm not sure if Mrs Fishburn," Fabio replied. Mrs Fishburn is Gail.
I was confused. "Olivier's best friend? Miss Black?"
"Michael Dish and Kristaline Black," he elaborated.
"I only know about one of those people," I admitted.
I have no idea who Michael Dish is.
"Oh, you're going to love Michael," Phyllis said.
"So I'm not?" I laughed a little.
"He's a prick. I still don't know why Olivier is friends with him, and the fact that you have no idea who he is speaks volumes," she commented.
"You people have so much drama. Can we just get to planning this thing?" Richard said.
"Ok, but what exactly are we planning? Chef Paolos is probably preparing something, and I'm sure Carol doesn't want us in her way," I pointed out.
"You have the attention span of a goldfish. Grace already told you that we give Chef Paolos the day off, and the same goes for Carol. We're on our own here," Fabio told me.
I wouldn't lie and say that it wasn't great to hear that Carol wouldn't be there.
"Oh, my bad. So what's on the to-do list then?" I asked.
Phyllis laughed. "It's a good thing the success of this whole thing isn't dependent on you because it would not be happening otherwise. We'll organize everything else, while you handle food. Grace told me that you'd be handling food and we already got everything you needed from that grocery list you made with her."
When we were planning the dinner weeks back.
"How many people am I cooking for out of curiosity?" I asked.
"About twenty to be safe, but don't worry about the starters and dessert. We've already got that covered," Fabio told me.
"Ok, and what about the cake? Is there a theme?" I questioned.
"I'll be fetching the cake in two hours and the theme is black and gold. We're setting up outside if you'd like to come and see," he offered.
I nodded and they led me outside to the backyard. I love the garden in the backyard, and what they were setting up, even if it was for a small group of people, looked amazing so far. I knew that deep down, Olivier would appreciate everyone's efforts.
Everything got busy after that, and I was stuck in the kitchen for the rest of the day. Grace, Nina and the twins were my helpers in the kitchen while everyone worked on everything else. Phyllis came to get my measurements at some point so that she could go and buy me a dress.
I apparently needed to look good beside the birthday boy.
I learnt that there was a whole ploy in play with his assistant who would be 'accidentally' spilling coffee on him before he comes home, forcing him to have to change into his spare suit, which happens to be all black, fitting right into the theme of the night.
He'd texted me like he said he would and I asked what time he would be coming home since we needed to know. He said seven, so we knew we had to be ready by six to play it safe. However, by five thirty, we were pretty much done.
"This looks good guys," my brother commented.
"Yeah, we really did a good job, but now we need to get ready, especially Rose," Phyllis said.
I was rushed to the bathroom in Olivier and I's room and instructed to shower. When I was done in the bathroom, there was a dress waiting for me on the bed. I put it on and that's when I first realized my slight baby bump.
I can't believe I hadn't paid attention to it.
Now that I'd spotted it, it looked bigger every time my eyes travelled back to it. I was standing in the mirror, just looking at it. I put my hand on it and found myself smiling at the thought that I had two little people growing inside of me.
"He's going to be so happy."